QT

I've Been Adopted!

Age: 2-3 years

Gender: Female

July 18, 2013 - I can't believe how long it has been since I updated you. I am still here in Maryland with Bridget, Kaya and Sid. We love summer because we get to spend a lot more time outside! There are always interesting things to smell in our backyard. I love running and sniffing, and barking about what I find.

I am a little more comfortable with people, sometimes I even let them come up to me and pet me under my chin. I especially like it when they scratch me under my collar. Bridget says I am nuts for not giving in to belly rubs, but I am not relaxed enough around people for that kind of behavior! I love it when Siobhan comes home from California - she just expects to walk in, pick me up and cuddle me, and I pretty much just let her!

Despite this picture Siobhan made of me (don't know how since I never get in the pool) I am not a fan of getting wet or anywhere near the pool no matter how hot it is. Sid sometimes stands on the steps and gets his tummy wet when it's really hot - NO THANK YOU!

Thanksgiving 2012: I am still here with Bridget, Sid and Kaya, enjoying the cooler weather and all the scents in the backyard. It's really hard not to tell the rest of my pack about the wonderful things I smell, but I know it worries MaMala when I do that early in the morning. Something about waking the neighbors. Whatever. A beagle's gotta do what a beagle's gotta do.

This picture is of Sid and me taking a nap on the chaise in the sun room. Favorite place, favorite buddy. Sometimes he will even run around the yard with me. Bridget is too old and Kaya is too much of a loner, but Sid is alright!

We got turkey jerky and turkey treats this morning - MaMala said it was Thanksgiving, so turkey was the word for the day. It was pretty tasty stuff, but nothing beats salmon.

QT here! This new picture shows me in our backyard with our dogwalker's son. He is very calm and gentle and not too big, so I feel safe letting him sit next to me and pet me. Grown ups are too scary for me usually. I do let Jim come up to me when I am sitting on the couch and pet me. He gives me a little cookie sometimes too. I like to stay in the same room with MaMala, but I like to keep my distance. Sometimes I miscalculate when I am following her in the house or the yard and I get so close I step on the back of her feet and trip her up. Oops!

Day 105: QT here. Today is a very sad day for me; my best buddy and playmate moved to California with his daddy. Toirin and Mibs are driving to Los Angeles to live with Sid's girl, Siobhan. I cried when MaMala left to take Toirin to Mibs' house to get ready for the trip. Bridget said I was making an awful lot of noise for such a little girl. I miss him so much already, he used to run and jump in the yard with me, roll down the hills with me, dig under the shed and bark at cats and squirrels and birds and bunnies and the neighbors. Who's going to do those things with me now? These other dogs are O-L-D, all they want to do is eat, nap, poop, sleep, eat, snack, sleep....you get the picture. Toirin was FUN.

Hmmm, maybe I'll get more treats now. Toirin was pretty good at snatching treats out of MaMala's hand, off the floor and even out of your mouth almost! Even if I do get more treats, I am going to miss him. He was my best friend. I am sad...Arooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Day 75: I just realized how different things are for me these days. I seem to be fully house trained - I know I am supposed to do all my potty business in the yard, not in the house. Unless MaMala is gone a really long time without Rachel coming to let us out in the yard (which pretty much never happens) I can wait for the next trip outside and I do.
I also eat with the other dogs now; I'm not sacred of every little noise or every time MaMala makes a move so I can keep eating even with the other dogs bumping into me and MaMala doing stuff in the kitchen. So I clean my plate and even lick their dishes when they're done. Not that any of us leave much; we're all beagles after all!
Sometimes at night I sit at one end of the couch while MaMala sits at the other end. She usually leaves me alone, so sometimes I will sneak up and sniff her hand or lick it, if I am feeling especially bold. When Jimmy is here I like to curl up on his feet because they smell very interesting. And they are almost as big as me. I let him pet me too because he knows I like the pets but can't always make myself sit still when people get too close.
I let Rachel come up and pet me: she always goes slow and never puts her hand over the top of my head. For some reason that makes me really scared. Rachel always rubs me under the chin, which is pretty nice.
But my favorite new skill is taking treats from MaMala's hand (and Rachel's and Jimmy's and Siobhan's and Matt's) and... well if it's a salmon treat and we're in the house and they stay pretty calm, from all of them. I REALLY like salmon treats and kibble and canned food and...well, anything salmon. That is also a new skill: knowing what SALMON is!!!!!! I like that one a lot

Day 63: QT again!Here is a picture of all of us that Rachel, the Dog walker, took of us this week. This is my pack: Sid smelling his old self, with Toirin right behind him. I am way in the back, with Bridget right in front of me. That is Kaya looking back at me. That little pink pig on the floor? Toirin ate him later that day so no more pig to play with. He pulled the stuffing out of my little brown rabbit too. Sheesh! He's a lot of fun but he gets bored easily. I like playing with him but sometimes he's a little too rambunctious for me. I don't like calling any attention to myself if I can help it. I would like it if the people would forget I'm here, unless salmon treats or salmon kibble is involved.

Day 51: QT again! We spent most of this weekend outside. It was sunny and nice...and in the morning there were lots of smells to bark at. Poor MaMala! We do like going outside and making noise! While we were tracking and tending to our business in the yard, MaMala was working really hard. She cut the grass, although we have to stay inside when she's on that big red machine. It's LOUD! Toirin hates being inside when the people are outside and he pulled some papers off the table and tore them up. MaMala got mad and told him he was mischievous and spoiled. Like that was news to anyone or something.She cut all the weeds in front of the walls and out by the road with that yellow stick thing that makes a lot of noise. And she pulled up green stuff from between the stones in the walk. She was really busy! We were taking naps in the shade, chasing flies and bees, barking at the cats next door and following whatever scent we could find. Some of us were also eating poop, but not me. Gross. Apparently certain beagles (Kaya) think it's a delicacy.

Day 36 - QT here. I made Mom really happy today. I feel like it's okay to take treats from her hand when the other dogs do. And so I did. You know what I figured out? If I take it right from Mom's fingers, the other dogs (and by other I mean Toirin and Sid) don't snatch it off the floor before I can get it. That is very important when we are talking about SALMON TREATS, the most delicious thing in the world.
I'm still trying to get comfortable with the idea of letting someone pet me when I am resting on the sofa though. That's my relaxation time and I still don't know how Bridget and the rest of them can roll over and let a person rub their bellies. They do it all the time and seem to like it; maybe I'll give it a try. Some day. Probably not today. Or tomorrow, for that matter...

This picture is of me on the chaise in the sun room. I like it when the sun comes in all the windows and it gets really warm. Great place for an afternoon nap!

Day 32 - well, I really surprised myself today. I think I surprised Toirin's daddy too. When Mibsy came downstairs this morning, I was so excited because I knew that meant we would get to go out in the yard. I ran up to him AND I TOUCHED HIS FINGER WITH MY NOSE!!!!! ALL BY MYSELF!!! I surprised myself so much I had to go hide on the couch in my favorite corner. Mibsy was so excited he was dancing around the room singing "QT touched my finger, QT touched my finger" over and over again. I cannot believe I was that brave. Toirin says Mibsy is a softy and the nicest daddy ever, so maybe I shouldn't feel so proud of myself. But I do!

Day 14: QT here. It’s been quite a week. After I met Sid’s girl, I met this new beagle, Toirin, and his boy. Wow, that Toirin is cute and a lot more fun than the old beagles I am living with. He likes to do what I like to do: run and play and roll down the hills. But he is twice as tall as me! I can walk under his belly without slinking! I have never met a beagle with such long legs. He says mine are the shortest legs in the world, but he is not even 2 years old, what does he know? Still I was sad to see him go home with his boy. The house is really quiet now that he’s gone.

I get to run around in the yard more now that I come into the house – well, I come into the house if no people are near the back door or if no one starts talking when I am getting ready to walk in. I still don’t quite understand what people will do. I totally get what dogs will do, but people are still a mystery to me. I do eat my treats now, instead of burying them – I have figured out that there is plenty of food here, I don’t have to really save it. But sometimes, I just have to bury that stuffed bunny in the cushions. You never know when you need a security bunny. I took Mom’s slippers from under the table and brought them onto the chaise with me. They are the perfect place to hide my Nylabone and the pink pig. (Mom has big feet.) She took the slippers back but left my toys.

There is a girl who comes to take care of us during the day, she smells like lots of dogs. Bridget said she is the Dog Walker, but that they can’t go walking until I learn about walking on a lead. I think that is the thing they hook onto my collar that keeps me from being able to get away. Bridget likes to go walking so she wasn’t very happy to just run around the yard. She likes to prance around in front of the other dogs because she is the boss of us. That’s what she thinks, and Sid and Kaya do too! I guess I do too; since I don’t know what to do all the time, it’s good to have someone show me.

I heard a dog barking while I was outside tonight and I gave him a piece of my mind. I guess I was pretty loud because Mom heard me; I think it was the first time I have barked since I got here. I only bark when I have something to say. Sid barks for cookies, Toirin barks for anything that moves, including the air, Kaya barks at Toirin when he bugs her with all his barking. Bridget doesn’t bark. Period.

Day 8 UPDATE!! QT here. The past three days have been a blur: a lot has happened and I am still trying to figure some of it out. I know running into the house after I do my potty business outside is a very good thing. Mom and Jim always say such nice things to me when I do that. If they only knew that all I’m trying to do is beat that bossy princess Bridget back into the house so she doesn’t steal any of my buried cookies or my baby bunny. (This picture is of me finding a safe place for my baby bunny. Mom caught me in the act.) Oh, and to snuggle up on that comfy stuffed rocking chair before Kaya stakes a claim to it. A new human came into the house today. I was scared of her since I never saw her before and she walked in like she lives here or something. So I hid in the corner for a while to see what might happen. One thing that happened is that Sid became a swooning idiot. Apparently he thinks this girl belongs to him, because he keeps talking about “my girl is home” or something like that. I guess she DID live here before she moved somewhere called Ellay and is mom’s daughter. Since she’s part of the family, I decided it would probably be okay to get back on my rocking chair. And it was – that’s a relief. Now maybe I can get my ears scratched…if they don’t come up to me too fast and scare me off my chair. Things change around here so fast, it's hard for a little girl like me to keep up.

Day 5 UPDATE!! QT here - I have learned so many things in this house in 5 days. I learned that furniture is a LOT more comfortable than the floor or even a dog bed. I especially like this couch (check out the picture) because there are good hiding places for cookies. I also learned the three other beagles who live here do not respect a girl's stash and will eat those cookies. I got in a little tussle with Miss Bridget over a nice treat, but mom intervened and we all settled back down.

I let myself into the house by coming to the back door and pushing it open this mroning and yesterday morning. I wonder why everyone was so excited about that? Oh, and no accidents in the house even though they don't try to put me in that silly crate any more. I am still not too sure about all these people but the dogs are nice, the food is good and the couch is AWESOME. My favorite place is still the backyard though. All that grass and all those smells!

QT is a 2-3yr old spayed female, fully vetted and needs a quiet touch!!! She is a little timid and needs gentle hand. She was an owner give up in Amelia County apparently because her previous caregiver didn't have time to socialize her.

Alexia,
Qt is still in my home as a foster. She does not yet walk very well on a lead as she is still leery of people. She does very well in my fenced yard of about an acre with my own beagles. I think she needs another dog and would likely not be a good apartment dog.

Five days in and QT is getting more comfortable every day! She will likely provide lots of updates as she has new experiences and masters new skills. Jumping on the furniture with the other beagles here – check!